Democratic Education for Hope: Contesting the Neoliberal Common Sense

Abstract

This paper provides a reinterpretation of Paulo Freire's philosophy of hope and suggests that this interpretation may function as a fruitful ground for democratic education that aims to contest the prevailing neoliberal 'common sense'. The paper defines hope as a democratic virtue required for resisting the discursive practises and affective mechanisms associated with the contemporary neoliberal ethos-those, which Carlos Alberto Torres characterizes as the "neoliberal common sense" and Lauren Berlant as "cruel optimism". Conclusively, the paper constructs three principles for democratic education-´history as possibility´, ´the ethics of intervention´, and ´democratization'-which are intended to function as a foundation for democratic education through which the virtue of hope can be fostered. These principles are argued to form a basis for reviving the political dimensions of education and thus allowing collective transformative action.

Det kritiska hoppet: Vikten av att synliggöra rasism i undervisning om värdegrundsfrågor på språkintroduktion

“…Inom pedagogisk forskning som utifrån kritiska perspektiv betonar det affektiva, partikulära, flexibla och öppna lyfts vikten av att inte bara vara kritisk utan också ge ett bidrag. Där tas fasta på hoppets betydelse inom kritisk pedagogik, såsom det formulerats av Paulo Freire (1994) och därefter utvecklats för en analys av samtida utbildning för demokrati och social rättvisa (Bozalek et al, 2014;Tiainen et al, 2019). Istället för den förtvivlan 1 Vi använder termen antidiskriminerande undervisning som ett paraplybegrepp för undervisning om frågor rörande värdegrund och likabehandling vilka relateras till en eller flera av diskrimineringsgrunderna.…”

Preparing education for the crises of tomorrow: A framework for adaptability

“…Despite these negative trends, the concerted efforts of social and political elites have ensured that the neoliberal vision of economic and cultural development remains hegemonic (Kwak 2017 ; Rizvi 2017 ). In fact, neoliberalism has become so deeply ingrained in the modern socio-political psyche that it is seen as common sense and rarely questioned (Harvey 2005 ; Tiainen et al 2019 ; Torres 2011 ). We suggest that the pursuit of stable and sustainable educational systems necessitates a new common sense grounded in the collectivisation of risk and shared responsibility, bringing back the principle of education as a public good.…”

Interrupting psychological management of youth training

“…The whole research group in the project is interested in how the ethos of vulnerability changes expectations, policies and practices related to youth support systems (e.g. Brunila et al, 2017;Honkasilta, 2017;Kurki et al, 2017;Lanas & Brunila, 2019;Masoud, Kurki, & Brunila, forthcoming;Mertanen, Pashy, & Brunila, 2019;Tiainen, Leiviskä, & Brunila, 2019) The project combines at least two different approaches to vulnerability: one as a psycho-emotional discourse shaping subjectivity of young people; and the other, as a beginning of new conceptualizations of subjectivity. In this article the focus is on the previous.…”

“…As educationalists we do, of course, need to ask what the rise of psychological management means in terms of education. A number of researchers across the world are referring to a crisis in education taking place within the larger ethos of neoliberalism which has enabled un-educational and de-politicised ways of thinking about education (Tiainen et al, 2019). Alongside crisis, the current educational situation is characterised with a sense of disorientation about the purpose, content and values of education as well as confusion about what society ought to expect from its citizens.…”